Hair loss is a health problem that is often overlooked. Healthcare workers tend not to give hair loss any weight for its their belief that little can be done to prevent it. The reality is that some people who are suffering from hair loss tend to go through depressive states.
Humans have three types of hairs: lanugo, vellus, and terminal. Of the three types we will only discuss terminal hairs. Terminal hairs are seen all over the body, but the concern of this invention is specifically geared toward the terminal hairs on the human scalp. The Human scalp has between 90,000 and 150,000 hair follicles. Normally the amount of follicles on the human scalp depends on the ethnicity of the human.
The British Association of Dermatologist states that humans are all born with all hair follicles in place and that under normal circumstances no new follicles are grown. The follicles that grow terminal hairs on the human scalp are programmed to grow relatively long, thick, and pigmented hair. The Association further states that we lose from our scalp between 40 and 120 hairs daily through out our life. If we did not have the capacity to replace the hairs lost, the Association estimates that we would be bald within 1000 days.
Luckily, human hair has a hair cycle. The hair cycle consists of three phases. The first phase is the anagen phase. The anagen phase is the growing phase and is where hair fibre is being synthesized, the growth phase last between two to six years, and about ninety percent of human hair is in this phase. The catagen phase is the second stage and it is a short transit phase where fibre elongation stops and the hair follicle diminishes in size. The last phase is the telogen phase. The telogen phase is a resting phase where hair fibre might be diminished. The telogen phase lasts between two to six months and only about ten percent of human hair is in the telogen stage at any time. The Association states that normally as the scalp goes through these cycles, the follicles and the hairs that the scalp produces remain in constant size. Note, human hair follicles have the capacity to change size and produce different types of hair. The changes are triggered by either hereditary or hormonal influences.
In humans, ninety-five percent of hair loss is hereditary (androgenetic alopecia). In Androgenetic Alopecia, certain scalp follicales are progressively miniaturized by a combination of hereditary, hormonal, and age factors. When the hair follicles are miniaturized, the hair cycle is shortened. When the anagen phase of the hair cycle is shortened, the telogen phase will become longer. It will eventually appear that hair growth has ceased.
Hair length and thickness are determined on how long the anagen phase is allowed to continue before entering the telogen stage. When the anagen phase is short, the hair that is produced on the scalp of the hair will appear to be vellus, short thin hairs that may be barely visible above the scalp surface.
Note, androgenetic alopecia does not alter hair follicle structure and the hair follicles in the human scalp do not appreciably diminish.
Healthy follicles are required for abundant hair growth. It is alleged that external factors might affect hair growth in humans. It is further alleged that disease and diet might temporarily diminish hair growth in humans. It is also alleged that upon curing the disease or placing an individual on a proper diet hair growth should return to normal within a short period. This invention does not address loss of hair due to the above factors.
This invention addresses hair loss of the type mentioned above, more specifically, the conversion of terminal scalp hair to vellus scalp hair.
The mechanism that shortens that anagen phase of terminal hair and lengthens the telogen stage of terminal hair in the hair follicles of the scalp of humans is subject to much debate. There is no consensus in the art as to what triggers the change. As a result, attempts have been made to provide methods and/or compositions which can prolong the retention of terminal hair without the methods and/or compositions having unwanted side effects.
However, none of these attempts have proven satisfactory from the standpoint of efficiency, convenience, safety, or cost. Accordingly, there is a need for a convenient, inexpensive, safe, and efficient kit and its method of use to treat persons suffering from hair loss.